This was my very first poem, once I decided to start writing poetry in earnest. After moving from the city out to the country, we had lots of brush to clear and trees to cut. So we would regularly be burning brush and cooking hot dogs over the coals. Hearing the night sounds of the wild was something new to the family, and the stars were gloriously bright, as there were very few lights out where we lived. We made a circle of stones to keep the limits on the embers, and called it our Fire Ring.  This poem is about those special times as a family, sitting around the campfire, enjoying nature and each other.

Up in the hills near old Lampasas town,
My family and me likes to get settled down
After cooking up supper on a cool Autumn night,
Just talking and singing by the fire’s dancing light.

Have you ever sat around just staring at the stars,
Trying to figure out which one is Venus or Mars?
There’s no better place on this Earth for star gazing
Than by a hot bed of coals when the fire’s through blazing.

It’s fun to be quiet just to hear the night sounds,
Knowing that nobody else is around.
Like the time we heard a momma deer snort,
Or a Whip-poor-will singing its mournful retort.

That Fire Ring’s a special place etched in my mind,
Where a man can relax, and just plain unwind
From all of the worries and cares of the day,
And a family gets close – in a natural way.

Starin’ up at the stars just fills us with awe,
Knowin’ the Lord created it all.
The boy’s full of questions – the girl’s full of fear,
And everyone’s trying to locate that deer!

Frank Knight